The Joy of Being Me!

A conversation with Sam.

2012-01-06T05:15:00.000-08:00

This morning Sam and I got up early and headed to McDonalds for breakfast. As he chowed down on pancakes I started a conversation with him.
Me: What's your favorite color?
Sam: Purple
Me: That's a good color.
Sam: My second favorite color is green because that's the color of your phone.
Me: That's my favorite color.
Sam: What's your color in the color code?
Me: Blue
Sam: My 3rd favorite color is blue.
Me: What's your color in the color code?
Sam: Yellow
Me: What does it mean to be yellow?
Sam: It means I'm crazy. Yellows are crazy.
Me: Yes sometimes they are. What else does it mean?
Sam: I love. That's why everytime I see a girl I try not to love them.
Me: (After some laughing) What else does it mean? Does it mean you like to have fun?
Sam: Yes, that's why girls like me.

He's always been a ladies man. I just hope I can teach him how to use that wisely.

2011-11-29T07:23:00.000-08:00

Ok, well I guess it's been 6 months since I posted last. Time flies. My last post was about the tornado in Joplin. Since then many businesses have rebuilt or are rebuilding. My parents have finished their house and have sold it. That is sad, but the right thing for them.

Ruthie has turned 2. Can't believe it! She is definitely our little princess and she knows it too! Her brothers are pretty good to her. They teach her lots of great things...and some not so great things. A couple of days ago I was giving her a bath. When it was time to get out she wanted to keep playing. I told her know and lifted her out of the bath. The looked at me and said, "Mommy Dummy". I looked back and her and said, "Excuse me. What did you say?". She looked up at the ceiling and half rolled her eyes and replied, "Um... Jesus?" She's too smart! I couldn't even punish her I was laughing so hard. I can't imagine my life without her.

Nathan has turned 9. Next year is double digits! He is growing up so fast. He is a great boy too! I couldn't ask for anything more!

I am still homeschooling. We are trying a new approach and doing a lot of reading and hands on activities. Very few worksheets or "sit down at a desk and write" work. The kids are learning a lot!!

I have a new addiction. www.pintrest.com Don't try it!! It's amazing!!

Home

2011-06-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

What is home? Home is the place you can go and expect familiarity. Things will always be the same at home. At home you are comfortable. You are safe. You are loved. For me Joplin, Missouri was home. Even though I moved away 8 1/2 years ago, Joplin always provided for me the things I think about when I think of home. I was born there. I grew up there. I lived in the same house from birth until the day I got married. 3 1/2 weeks ago, the familiarity of Joplin was taken from me and thousands of others. Many people lost so much that tragic Sunday afternoon. In comparison to some, my losses are small. To me, they appear large at times and miniscule at others. Thank God all of my family survived the storm. In light of this, our losses are small. I lost the comforts of my childhood home. The walls are still standing, but it has a lot of damage. It will never again be the home I knew. It will be different, even after it's repaired. My parents built that house. They brought me and my three sisters home from the hospital to that house. So many wonderful memories were made there year after year. Even though it's just a house, it's our home. It's sad. It's hard to see the home you love torn apart like that, but again, it's a loss not as great as so many. Most of the contents on the inside of the house were saved. Our pictures, our baby books, our important papers are all still in our possession. What a blessing that is!!! My mom put it so well when she said, "My whole sphere of living is gone!". It's true. My parents business that sat on the corner of 20th and Duquesne was directly in the path of the tornado and is gone. It took them awhile to find the building because it had been ripped apart so badly. They did find a family picture though that was hanging on the wall of the office. Here is a picture of my Aunt Lori holding it. Just a couple of days ago another picture of my oldest 2 sons taken in 2004 was found. It also had been displayed in the office.

The Walmart where my parents did their grocery shopping is gone. The Home Depot that my parents had been in 3 times just the week before, is gone. The Sonic where my mom and I would go to enjoy our sweet teas with extra ice is gone.
The salon where my mom has gotten her haircut for 20+ years is gone. The gas station where my dad would gas up all his cars and where he would make his late night snack runs is gone. This same gas station is where I drove to get Dortios for tacos as my first time driving alone the day I got my drivers license. The farm where my parents would buy a whole cow and freeze it is gone. All the cows are dead. The tire and lube express where my parents would get oil changes and some work done on their cars is gone.
CiCi's pizza was a favorite date place for me and Greg in highschool and it's gone. So many places that were depended upon are gone! Just gone! I and so many others no longer have the security and comfort that being home brought. But with the loss of the security and comfort of home, one thing about home still remains. LOVE! Never in my life have I seen Joplin so united. Never before so compassionate. Joplin has always been a wonderful place. In this tragedy, the wonderful things about this place I call home are even more evident. People who lost everything helping people who lost everything. The outpouring from the local people, who have all been affected, has been awesome to see. God has brought this "little big town" together like never before.

Even though so much was lost on May 22nd, so much has also been gained. Family has always been the most important thing to me. This has just been reinforced because of that storm. The few minutes from the time I got the text from my sister asking if I'd heard from mom and dad to the time I received the text from my dad that said "Werok" was excruciating! I will never take my family for granted!!

I have been reminded to make the most of every opportunity. Every opportunity to say "I love you". Every opportunity to squeeze the ones you love. Every opportunity to make sure your loved ones know how you feel about them. Every opportunity to be with those who matter most.

I have learned that home is where your family is. As much as I love my home at 4029 Belle-Lock Pl. in Joplin, after we moved my parents into their rental house in Mt.Vernon, it felt like home. Not because I had grown up there. Not because I had any special connection to that house. Not because I had made special memories there, but because my family was there. No building made of bricks and wood and drywall could ever be home without my family.
I have learned that there is no greater thing on earth than to serve others. We hadn't been in Joplin 20 minutes when a guy and his wife on a 4 wheeler came by 20th and Duquesne, where we were surveying the damage, with bottled water and Gatorade. These people were from Webb City, the next town over. From what I have seen of Joplin since the tornado hit, the tornado does not define who Joplin is. It's not defined by the destruction that covers 1/3 of the city. It's not defined by the homeless or the hurt. It is not defined by what we've lost. What defines Joplin is the service. It's the caring and compassion. It's the love and the helping. It's the hope and the confidence that one day our town will be better than it was before. It's Joplin! No matter how long I live away from Joplin, it is and always will be my home sweet home!

*Not all of the pictures in this blog are mine. I just found them various places.*

The hand of God!

2010-10-27T02:07:00.001-07:00

8 weeks ago, while admiring Ruthie, a girl at church noticed a small bump on above her nose. After a little research I decided to leave it alone and see if it went away. Last week while at the dr. office checking Ruthie's ears I asked the Dr. to look at the bump. She decided to send us to the hospital for an ultrasound. So on Oct. 20th we went in. On Monday the 25th we went into our Dr. to find out the results of the ultrasound. Our Dr. wasn't sure of the diagnosis so she wanted to refer us to an ENT. Ruthie had an ear infection the week before so I asked her to please check her ears to see if they had cleared up. She said that one ear was still red even after antibiotics so that was another reason to go to the ENT. I called twice on Tuesday to get the referral information. Finally it was ready. I had decided I would go pick up the paperwork after I picked up the boys at school. I decided to meet Greg for lunch, go do early voting, go look at a loveseat someone wanted to sell us and then go home to give the kids naps before picking up the boys at school. On our way home with the loveseat we realized Greg's van was at the church, so I had to take him back. When he got out of the car he said, "You need to go pick up the referral at ABC (the name of our Dr.'s office)." I decided he was right (and I was anxious to see when our appt with the ENT was). I arrived at the dr. office around 1:30pm. I asked for the referral and was handed a white envelope. I turned to walk out and glanced down at the envelope to see what was written on it. It said APPT: 11/19/10 5:25PM I immediately turned around and walked back to the desk.

Me: "I can't wait for this appt. My daughter has an ear infection now and the dr. doesn't want to give her medicine until she sees the ENT."

Nurse: Takes the envelope from me and calls the ENT's office and explains the situation to them. Then says to me, "The soonest they can get you in the 8th."

Me: "That is not acceptable. I need an appt. this week or I need medicine for my daughter."

Nurse: "I can try Dr. Nguyen's office."

Me: "That would be great. Thank you."

After talking to Dr. Nguyen's office the nurse asks me if I can be there by 2:30. Of course I can! It's now 1:50. I thank the nurse again for making the phone calls for me. Then I start making phone calls. First to Racheal to let her know I can't join her for lunch at my house, then to Greg to let him know we have an appt and I'm on my way to pick him up, then to Stacy to see if she can pick up the boys from school, then to family to let them know what is going on. It was kind of a crazy afternoon.

We arrive at the office at 2:20 and fill out all the paperwork. At 3:00 we go in to meet with the dr. I guess the reports from the radiologist gave a diagnosis of "possible glioma". That is when the bones in the head didn't fuse like they should have and some brain matter has squeezed through the hole left between the bones. The first question the Dr. asked us was who gave us that diagnosis. He thought it was odd to give that diagnosis after just an ultrasound. He said he was not convinced of that at all. He asked us some questions and then said he would like to watch the bump and see what happens. He started to go on about Ruthie's ears when I asked, "So we are just going to watch it and not do a CT scan or anything?" He thought for a minute and then said we should go ahead and do the CT scan. That makes me think he is just trying to cover himself and give me peace of mind. I would rather know for sure than to wait and see. Ruthie is scheduled for a CT scan at 9am on Friday morning the 29th.

The Dr. was very encouraging with what he told us. I am anxious to get the results of the scan so we can get on with our lives.

I was in awe as I saw God work today. Is it coincidence that I decided to go pick up the referral when I did instead of waiting? If I had waited I would not have gotten into Dr. Nguyen today and probably would have had to settle for the Nov.8th appt. Is it a coincidence that even after antibiotics her ear was still red but today when the ENT looked at her ears they looked fine? Had it not been red the day before I don't think we would have been able to get into the ENT early. Is it a coincidence that these events lead us to the better Dr. in town? I think not! All of these things are the hand of God in my life and the life of my precious daughter. What a wonderful, caring God we serve!!

I forgot...Happy 1st Birthday Ruthie!!!

2010-10-07T04:16:00.000-07:00

I didn't forget her birthday, I just forgot to blog about it. We had a really simple party. Just a few friends, pizza, and cake. She won't remember anyway. I can't believe it's been a year. I feel like she should be 3 weeks old. Time has really flown by. I have known that she was my last baby so I have made every effort to cherish each moment of her infancy. It's just gone too fast. She took her first steps the day before her birthday. That was fun! Now she is walking everywhere! She still crawls every once in awhile, but she is definitely doing more walking than crawling. She has weaned herself too. We did make it to our breastfeeding goal of one year. Even almost made it to 13 months, but she is finished. I'm ok with that too, because she did it on her own.

Ruthie has been such a blessing to our lives. I love the connection we have as the only girls in the family. She really loves her momma! Before she was born I didn't really know how badly I wanted a daughter. She is such a joy!!! I am so looking forward to watching her grow and learn. I love you Ruthie Ann!!

Tired?...maybe a little.

2010-10-07T04:14:00.001-07:00

It's been a rough last year sleep wise for me. Ruthie rarely sleeps through the night. I thought I was doing ok until this morning around 5am when Ruthie woke up. I went to change her diaper and found she had 2 diapers on. I vaguely remember doing this around 2:30am, but I don't remember what my reasoning was. Maybe I should take a nap today.

life and funny

2010-08-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

Life is crazy!! Summer is over. The kids are back in school. Nate is a 3rd grader. Not sure how that happened. I feel like just yesterday I was holding him in the NICU at Freeman Hospital. His teacher is Ms.Diaz. She seems nice and he seems to like school this year. So far anyway. He is such a smart kid!! Eli is a 1st grader. He says he doesn't like school, but I think deep down he really does. His best friend Nolan is in his class. He was so excited about that. Sammy started preschool. With his personality he really needs the structure and interaction with the other kids. He is loving it. Our babysitter, Jaimie, works there too and he adores her. Ruthie and I are having fun enjoying the quietness in the house and the calmness of trips out. I love it! Ruthie is growing so fast. She'll be 1 in 2 weeks. So hard to believe.

I'm still enjoying photography. We just bought a new camera and lens. Greg and I are both able to use it for FishXpressions so it's wonderful!

Eli lost his first tooth lastnight and the tooth fairy brought him $5. This morning on our way to church I decided to get a latte from McDonalds. Eli told me he wanted pancakes. I told him that we were going to church to eat donuts. He said he didn't want donuts. I then told him I didn't have enought money for the pancakes. He said to me very serious, "Mom, why do we keep running out of money? We should stop spending and wait until all our teeth fall out." Too funny!!

6 months

2010-03-25T07:16:00.001-07:00

It's been 6 1/2 months since Ruthie joined our family. It's been an adventure for sure! Her brothers love her so much! They take really good care of her. She is a good baby, but a very controlling baby. She doesn't like to be left alone. She is definately a momma's girl. She will pretty much cry is anyone else is holding her. She's ok with her daddy though. She doesn't have a sweet baby cry either, it's a 4 year old bloody murder scream. I just got her to start taking a bottle. I don't want her to have a bottle a lot, but when I go out with the girls or on a date with Greg. I want to be able to leave her for a few hours. We went to the dr. yesterday. She is a little peanut. She weighs 13lbs. 12oz. Her brothers were all over 16lbs. at this age. Mom looked in my baby book and the girls and even though I was a chunk the other girls weighed right around what Ruthie does at 6 months. Made me feel better. She is so much fun though. She is interacting so much. Rolling over and giving kisses. I love that she loves me so much. I'm just going to spoil her because she is my last baby. This is my last time to go through all of this.

I asked God to give me that "done" feeling when my family was complete. I didn't want to always wonder if I should have had one more. God really have given me that feeling. I love my babies, but I am ready to move to the next phase. I have my four and I am so thankful for each one of them. They are all wonderful blessings in their own way.
Eli just turned 6 on the 11th. We took a cake to school for him. I also made a cake for church. We decided not to do a big party this year. He didn't really want one. We just went as a family to Mr.Gatti's pizza and played. It was a lot of fun and Eli doesn't seem to think he missed out on a party. We did the same with Sam's 3rd birthday. They don't need anymore toys anyway. It was fun to spend the time as a family and not break the bank.
Since I wrote last the boys have started school at Hudson Elementary. They are liking it ok. Eli has good days and bad days. The last 6 weeks he got the Cody Character award which is a great accomplishment because he struggled so much at the beginning of the year.
Nate has been doing well also. He made A honor roll last 6 weeks. I love who my boys are. They all have such great hearts! I am super proud to be their momma.

Earring and Laughter

2009-12-13T12:30:00.001-08:00

Well, daddy got his way. Ruthie got her ears pierced on Wednesday. I was TOTALLY against doing it, but Greg asks for so little when it comes to the kids so I let him do it. She only cried for about 3 minutes. She hasn't really acted bothered by them. I did give her tylenol a couple of times when she acted fussier than normal.

Ruthie also gave me her first laugh on Friday night. I don't know if she was laughing at Eli or me. IT was cute though!

Girl stuff!

2009-11-30T13:35:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I've been a mom of a girl for 2 1/2 months now. I thought I was doing pretty good until we attempted Christmas pictures with Valery's girls. We were all done when I decided to take some pics of Ruthie by herself. It was then that I noticed it. Whe you have girls there is something called "bloomers" that come with most dresses. I didn't notice this until I was arranging Ruthie's dress and noticed something hanging out. I completely missed the bloomers attached underneath the dress. I was totally embarrassed. Thankfully it was just family around. I guess I still have somethings to learn when it comes to having a daughter. Hey, I'm new at this!

God's commandments

2009-09-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

Nate and Eli were running around this morning fighting.
Eli came in to the office with a white teddy bear that he took from the church a few months ago. I didn't know where it came from until about 3 weeks ago when he came to me and said "Mom I stole this bear from the church." I told him to make sure he took it back.

He just brought the bear in the office.
Eli: I'm taking this back to the church. (With a very proud look on his face.)
Me: Good.
Nate: But Sammy likes it.
Me: Nate, he stole it from the church.
Nate :(looking at Eli in disbelief.) Why would you do that?
Eli: I didn't know God's commandments.

So cute!!!

A visit from my grandma

2009-09-27T06:32:00.001-07:00

My grandma visited me lastnight in a dream. It started like any other dream. We were visiting this animal farm. My mom and dad were looking at pigs. For some reason they decided Stef needed a pig. I thought it was ridiculous so I walked away. I was holding Ruthie. I went and sat down at a table with Grandpa and Grandma. There was someone else at the table, but I couldn't make out the face. Grandpa and Grandma and I talked about how crazy it was that mom and dad would be buying a pig. The conversation stalled and I looked and grandma and started this conversation.

me: "Grandma, I wish you were still here."
Grandma: "Darlin I know. You just love those babies. I'm fine. Kiss that girl for me."
me: "I will. I wish I could have been there to tell you how much I love you."
Grandma: "I know you do. I love you more."

Then I woke up. Crying of course. What a special thing. I believe she used a dream to let me know everything was ok. I miss her so much!

Just a couple cute moments for the first two weeks of Ruthie's life.

2009-09-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

About 5 days after Ruthie was born I went in to tell Nathan goodnight. This was our conversation.
Nate: "Mom, Ruthie is so special."
me: "You are right. You are special too buddy."
Nate: "Mom, I cried in my bed the day you brought her home. I feel like crying now too."
Me: "Why?"
Nate: "Because everyone is special."
What a sweet big brother!

Sam: "Mommy, Ruthie said her first word!"
me: "What did she say?"
Sam: "I love Sammy."

Eli will sit by Ruthie no matter where she is and rub her head and talk to her.

The boys are so precious with her. They are being very helpful. What good big brothers Ruthie has.

Ruth Ann Ayelen is here!!!

2009-09-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

She is finally here and she is beautiful!! We arrived at the hospital a little after noon on Sept.13th. I got checked in and all was set up. When they put the heart monitor on the baby they told us her heartbeat was too fast. It was in the 190's. It should be around 160. They were a little nervous about that. They started giving me IV fluid thinking I was dehydrated. Dr. Danielson broke my water around 1:00. I was 3 cm dilated. Because baby's heartbeat was fast they decided to put on an internal monitor. It attaches to the baby's head and gives a more accurate reading. I started having contractions, but they weren't very strong or consistant. Around 4:30 Dr. Danielson came in to check my progress. She told me that if I hadn't dilated anymore that she would have to start pitocin. I hadn't made any progress so pitocin was started probably around 5:00. Within 10 minutes I was starting to feel contractions. They felt like they were very close. I barely had a break in between. I finally asked the dr. if I could get up and she said I could. I used my birthing ball and stood some. Around 6:30 I started to feel pressure. Greg went and got the nurse so she could check me. I was 6 cm dilated and in a lot of pain. After she checked me I couldn't get up out of the bed. The contractions were coming too fast. Greg was scratching my arm trying to sooth me. He kept telling me I was doing so good. About 6:45 I told Greg I couldn't do it anymore. I needed medicine NOW!!! He went out and told them I was ready for meds. About 2 contractions later I told Greg I felt like pushing and he needed to get someone. The nurse came rushing in and checked dilation during a contraction to see how far down baby was. That pain was so horrible!!! She ran to the door and said, "She's complete, someone call Dr. Danielson." When I head those words I had two thoughts, relief and NO, I need meds!! Right away two nurses were at my side. My body kept trying to push but the nurses kept telling me no. The nurse on my right would tap me on the shoulder really hard and say, "Emily, open your eyes, blow." I was so frustrated with her because at that point the pain was coming from not being allowed to push. I know they wanted the dr. there, but it hurt so bad. After what we think was about 10 minutes I finally saw my dr. Her face was one of shock. She only had time to put gloves on before Ruthie made her grand entrance. I have never been in more pain in my life, but I have never felt such a sense of accomplishment. I did what I have been planning on doing for the last nine months. I had a completely unmedicated labor and birth. I had done it with Sam (not by choice) but I wan't proud of the way I did it. I wanted to be proud of the way Ruthie came into the world. And I am! It wasn't easy, but it was worth every ounce of pain I went through. She is so amazing! I already love having a daughter. She weighed 7lbs. 2 oz. and was 20 1/4 inches long. Just perfect. We came home from the hospital last night. When we left she weighed 6lbs. 7 oz. She has been eatin great and pooping a lot so the nurses weren't concerned with the weight loss. Right now she is sitting in the swing bought with money from her GG. She has the pink blanky over her that her Beemy made. So precious. Here are a few pics of our first few days together.

Baby Update

2009-08-18T08:50:00.000-07:00

I went to my appt. on August 14th. I was 34 weeks that day. The dr. says she does not expect me to make it to full term. She noticed that baby has definately started to drop. She did an ultrasound to check fluid levels and said they are around a 10 which is up from the hospital so that is good. I am measuring 35 weeks. I have gained 3 pounds in the last month. I am still down 3 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. It doesn't sound like she will stop labor now. I am still on modified bedrest for another 2 weeks. She said to take it easy this week and then next week I can do a little more and then be off the next week. When we were getting ready to leave she said she would see us in the office in 2 weeks if she didn't see us in the hospital before. So it sounds like it could be anytime. As I write this I am 34 weeks 4 days. So far we have done well. I am confident if Ruthie decides to make her grand entrance early that she will be fine. I am very anxious to hold her in my arms.

So close yet so far.

2009-08-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

I really thought this was going to be the pregnancy we would make it all the way with no problems. I guess I was wrong. Yesterday morning I tripped over the automatic UNO game and fell. I didn't hit my stomach, but I called my dr. anyway just to let her know. She sent me to the hospital to be observed. Turns out I was having contractions. They ordered an ultrasound where they discovered my fluid level was at an 8.3. A little on the low side. Because if my history they decided to give me steroid shots for the baby's lungs. They checked my cervix and I was a fingertip dialated, 0% effaced and baby was high. Throughout the night I recieved 4 shots for the lungs. Around 8am my contractions started picking up so they decided to check me again. I was 1cm, 50% effaced and baby was at a -2 station. The nurse said she could feel the baby's head. So change was definately being made which is not a good thing. They started me on magnesium which is a muscle relaxant. I had this medicine 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Nathan. It makes you feel very hot and flushed. My contractions have slowed down though. I'm having like one an hour. From what I understand I will be taken off the mag around 10:30am tomorrow. They will check me again at this point then keep me for another couple hours to make sure the contractions don't pick up again. As long as there is no more cervical change and the contractions have stopped I should be able to go home tomorrow. We asked the nurse practicioner when she came in today how long I would have to stay on bedrest. From what she said it sounds like I will only have to be on partial bedrest until 34 weeks. I will be 33 weeks on Friday, so it shouldn't be very much bedrest. It sounds like if I go into labor after 34 weeks they will just let baby come. I am hoping we can make it to at least 36 weeks. I would love to make it to 38 weeks so mom can be here. We shall see.

Now's the time!

2009-07-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

One of these days, you'll shout "Why don't you kids grow up and act your age?!" And they will. Or you'll say, "Kids, get out and find yourselves something to do...and don't slam the door!" And they won't.
You'll straighten the boy's bedroom neat and tidy and smooth...toys displayed on the shelves. Hangers in the closet with clothes attatched. Animals caged. And you'll say out loud, "Now, I want it to stay like this!" And it will.
You'll prepare a perfect dinner with a salad that hasn't been picked to death and a cake with no finger traces in the icing, and you'll say "Now, there's a meal for company!" And you'll eat it alone.
You'll say "I want complete privacy on the phone. No dancing around, no pantomimes, no demolition crews, Silence! Do you hear?" And you'll have it.
No more plastic placemats stained with spaghetti. No more spreads to protect sofas from damp bottoms and dusty shoes. No more gates to tumble over in the door of the baby's room. No more Hot Wheels or Barbie dolls under the couch. No more playpens to arrange a room around.
No more anxious nights under a vaporizer. No more cracker crumbs in the sheets. No more wall-to-wall water in the bathroom. No more iron-on patches. No wet, knotted shoelaces, pants with knees out, or rubberbands for ponytails.
Imagine a lipstick with a point on it. Not having to get a baby-sitter on New Year's eve. Family washing only once a week. Seeing steak that isn't ground. Marketing with only groceries in the basket. No more car pools. No more blaring radios or Sesame Street three times a day on TV. No more washing her hair at 9 o'clock at night. No more wondering where the family car is. Having your own roll of scotch tape.
Think about it. No more Christms presents out of construction paper and glue. No more sloppy oatmeal kisses. No more tooth fairy. No more giggles in the dark. No knees to heal. No responsibility. Only a voice crying, "Why don't you grow up?!" And a silence echoing, "I did!"

More adventures with Sam.

2009-06-24T18:39:00.000-07:00

The kids had been patient all day long. Because of the storms today they weren't able to swim when they wanted to. Finally around 6:00 mom and I decided to let them swim. We put floaties on everyone and watched them swim as we sat in the porch swing right beside the pool. Valery came out and we sat there talking while the kids swam. Eli was the first to be finished swimming so I took his floaties off and he headed inside to the bath. Sam was next. We pulled him out and took his floaties off. Sam was playing on the deck with Addy. My eyes were on the pool the whole time. All of the sudden I saw 2 white swim shirts in the pool and neither one had floaties on (Nate and Sam both have white swim shirts, but Sam always has his floaties on). Immediately I jumped up and into the pool and grabbed Sam. I'm not really sure how it happened. I guess Sam jumped in the pool without floaties and Nate saw him. Nate yelled "Sam!" and jumped in after him. Nate was trying to hold Sam up and rescue him. When I came up with Sam in my arms, Valery looked at me and said "What are you doing?! You are 6 months pregnant." It never crossed my mind to yell at Val or Mom to jump in a get him. I just did what I had to do. My kid was in danger! I was fully clothed in a nice new skirt. I always wondered how I would react in a situation like that. I guess now I know. Ruthie and I are fine. She has been moving good all night. I'm thankful because for a few seconds I forgot I was pregnant. Apparently Sam is going to test my parenting skills. First White Water and now this. I'm afraid to ask, "What's next?"

White Water Adventure

2009-06-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the boys and I went to White Water with Valery and her family. Places like that are never very much fun for me because of my 2 year old color code yellow son. He is so much fun, but he is also sooooooo crazy! He is such a daredevil and into everything. I was having to watch him very closely at the Rain Tree because he kept trying to go up the big slides instead of down. The lifeguards kept rescuing him. So we moved to the little kid area via the lazy river where I thought he would be safer. Again, he went straight to the bottom of the slides and tried to climb up. There are parts of the kiddie area that are about 12 inches deep. He kept putting his face under the water and trying to swim. Since i know him I knew he was fine, but the life guards kept trying to rescue him again thinking he was drowning. There were several times that I couldn't locate him for a few seconds and panicked. I got tired, so I decided to head back to our chairs. Val and TJ decided to take the 3 bigger kids to do some of the big rides. I had Addy and Sam and we were getting hungry, so we went to the snack bar to get some lunch. While we were in line Val showed up with Ari. Then TJ showed up with Nate and Eli. I kind of motioned Sam and Addy over to Val so I could finish ordering. My first mistake was to assume Val had the kids. It was totally my fault. I got complacent. I was ordering when Addy came up to me and said, "Auntie Em, where's Sammy?". I looked up expecting to be able to point him out to her immediately only to see that he was no where to be found. I looked at Val and said, "Where's Sam?". She looked around and couldn't find him either. Immediately I grabbed the older 4 and made them stand against the wall and Val and TJ went in opposite directions looking for him and calling his name. I started shaking and praying. We were right by the wave pool and the lazy river. I knew Sam had a life jacket on, but I also knew it hadn't done very well with it when we were in the lazy river before. I saw a lifeguard walking by and grabbed her and told her my 2 year old son was missing and I needed her to let the other lifeguards in the park know. She started trying to get that announcement made. Later Val said she had seen a little boy that looked like Sam in the lazy river but then saw an older boy with him so assumed it wasn't him. She said something told her to check the lazy river again. When she looked again the little boy was telling the lifeguard that someone lost their baby. I heard her yell "Emily!" and when I looked she was running in the water down the lazy river. I thought she was just going around seeing if she could see him because I couldn't see him or the boy talking to the lifeguard. I guess she hollered at the lifeguard that the baby was hers. I'm still standing by the snack bar with the other kids, and the lifeguard is still trying to get the announcement made when Val comes walking up with Sam in her arms. I can't even tell you the relief that came over me. I have never been so scared in my life. I felt totally helpless. Thankfully God was watching over Sam yesterday. Thankfully that little boy was in the lazy river and nice enough to help Sam. Thankfully my wonderful sister can run well in water. Thank you so much Val! It's a good lesson never to assume someone else is watching the kids. Thank the Lord yesterday turned out to be a fun, memorable day instead of a tragic one.

I was relieved later in the day when Sam started to get tired and slowed down. This is how Sam spent the last hour of our day at White Water.

That was the most relaxing hour of the day!!!

Frills!

2009-05-20T11:16:00.001-07:00

Solid Rock Cafe

2009-05-18T05:07:00.000-07:00

First girl purchase

2009-05-11T10:57:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist. I went out and bought something girly. Greg picked out the first one. I picked out the second one.

2009-05-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

It seems like we have been waiting forever to find out who our little one is. I'm now 20 weeks pregnant. Friday was our BIG ultrasound day. I went in totally expecting a little boy. When the dr. told me it's a girl I about passed out. She went back and looked 4 times. I wanted to be sure! It's for sure. We are having a little girl. Her name will be Ruth Ayelen. Ruth after my granny and after Greg's grandma. My middle name is Ruth too. I had a dream yesterday about a Ruth Eileen. When I woke up I went to my baby name book and started going through it. I started with the A's. A logical place. I came across the name Ayelen. It is a Mapuche name. These people live in Chile and Argentina. Since Greg grew up in Chile he immediately loved it. It's very important to me that the name has a good meaning too. Ayelen means joy. Perfect. So our little girl is Ruth Ayelen! We can't wait to meet you princess!

The joy of being mommy.

2009-04-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today marked another momentous day at my house. Nate lost his 2nd tooth. The first one was lost about a month ago. Today the 2nd bottom tooth came out. He was so excited! We called grandmama right away. I went to get a baggie to put the tooth in and label it so we could leave it for the tooth fairy tonight. Nate had been carrying it around with him for about 3 minutes. I told him about 1200 times in that 3 minutes "Don't drop it". I held the bag out to him so he could put the tooth inside and what does he do? DROPS IT!!!! Right into the couch. I tried to recover it, but it slipped further down beyond where I could see. I stick my arm into the couch hoping it will be there, but no luck. What do I do? Like any good mother I proceed to tear apart the couch so my crying 6 1/2 year old can leave his tooth for the tooth fairy. After a good 20 minutes trying to locate the tooth I give up. My arm is now red and scratched up, but what else could I do? I reassured Nate that he could leave a note for the tooth fairy and I'm sure she will understand. Ugh! If only he would have listened to me! Anyway, here is a picture of Nate and his new hole.

It's time to fight back.

2009-03-25T07:30:00.001-07:00

I've been reading a wonderful book called "Bringing up Boys" by Dr. James Dobson. With a house full of boys I thought it couldn't hurt. I am so glad I decided to read this book. It has changed my life forever. In this book Dr.Dobson talks about how we as parents have an obligation to our boys (children really, but his book is dealing mainly with boys). It talks about how our society and culture have had a horribly negative effect on our boys. I was starting to question if I would be homeschooling next year, but after reading this book I have never been more convinced that homeschooling is the right choice for my family.

Here are a couple paragraphs from Chapter 14 of this book entitled "Predators". "First, let's give priority to our children. In days gone by, the culture acted to shield them from harmful images and exploitations. Now it's open season for even the youngest among us. Let's put the welfare of our boys ahead of our own convenience and teach them the difference between right and wrong. They need to hear that God is the author of their rights and liberites. Let's teach them that He loves them and holds them to a high level of moral accountability.
Second, let's do everything in our power to reverse the blight of violence and lust that has become so pervasive across this land. Let's demand that the entertainment moguls stop producing moral pollutants. Let's recapture from the courts that system of self-rule that traditionally allowed Americans' to debate their deepest differences openly and reach workable solutions together. Radical individualism is destroying us! Postmodernism is a cancer that rots the soul of humanity. The creed that proclaims, "If it feels good, do it!" has filled too many hospitals with drug-overdosed teenagers, too many prison cells with fatherless youth, too many caskets with slain young people, and caused too many tears for bewildered parents. Finally, let's vow together to set for our children the highest standards of ethics and morality and to protect them, as much as possible, from evil and death. Our families can't be perfect, but they can be better - much better."

I have to fight first for my boys, but I am also obligated as a Christian to fight for those boys who don't have anyone willing to fight for them!

Baby #4 Belly

2009-03-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a quick picture of my ever growing belly. I look about 6 months pregnant, but I'm only 13 weeks 3 days. Guess my body just remembered what to do.

Silly Sam!

2009-03-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

Happy 5th Birthday Elijah!

2009-03-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been 5 years since you were born. Amazing how fast time flies. I remember sitting in the car on the way to the hospital saying, "March 11th, Elijah Montgomery's birthday!" Seems like yesterday. I love you so much buddy and I am so proud of the big boy you are becoming. You have a fire in you and God is going to use that! Follow God sweetheart and you will succeed in whatever you do. I love you so much!!

Baby #4 Update

2009-03-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

On March 10th we went to our regular OB appt. Since our specialist appt. got moved to the 19th my dr. decided to do another ultrasound to see if she still saw anything or not. In her words "I still want you to go to the specialist to get the official ok, but unofficially your baby is perfect!" That was music to our ears. We are so thankful for all the prayers that went up for our little baby. We know God has answered them. We will be going to the specialist next thursday. We are confident that we will recieve the same news then. Here is a picture of our little one.

Pregnancy Update

2009-02-26T11:17:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty sick this pregnancy. More sick than I was with the boys. Very tired too. I have had to take naps in the afternoon and then I still end up in bed around 9:00 at night. I have realized that going to bed earlier at night helps the morning sickness. I will be 10 weeks tomorrow. I feel like the sickness is starting to ease up. I feel pretty good today. Only have a headache. I've had a lot of those lately.

Two weeks ago we went in for our early ultrasound. We got to see our beautiful baby and see the heart beating away. My dr. was concerned with something she saw on the ultrasound. She said the umbilical cord or the area around it looked a little different than she is used to seeing. She mentioned the word Gastroschisis. It is a type of inherited congenital abdominal wall defect in which the intestines and sometimes other organs develop outside the fetal abdomen through an opening in the abdominal wall. She has referred us to a genetic specialist who will do a more detailed ultrasound and run some other tests on March 13th. From research I have done I have found that the possibility of her seeing that particular defect on ultrasound that early is next to impossible. We are believing that all is well and come March 13th the specialist will send us away saying we have a perfectly healthy baby. I will be 12 weeks on March 13th. According to more research I have done that is the earliest point possible where we might be able to see if we are having a boy or girl. I'm hoping the detailed ultrasound can reveal that for us. We have pretty much decided on names although I am having second thoughts on the girls name.

If we have another boy his name will be Benjamin Gabriel.

Right now if we have a girl her name will be Zoe Ruth. Zoe is the name I'm having second thoughts about. Personally I would love to use the name Mabel Ruth, but Greg hates Mabel. Says it sounds too old. I love the meaning though. Mabel means "loveable". So cute! In my opinion anyway. We'll see.

Nate, Eli and Sam are doing good. When going to bed Nate always says, "Good night to the baby!". Nate has decided he would like to try the "big school". I have a call into the school here to see if he can visit sometime next week to see how things really are. We'll see! I think Eli is really dealing with the thoughts of having to compete with another child. So far I think he is having the hardest time trying to figure out what adding another baby means. I can feel his mind going all the time. We are going on a date tonight! I'm excited! Sam is a non-stop chatter box. The kid never quits. His new favorite phrase is, "What you doing?" It's so cute and so annoying at the same time.

Until later! Love and Blessings!

FFFB

2009-01-12T08:14:00.001-08:00

FFFB= Fourth and Final Fish Baby

That's right, I'm having another baby! I've always wanted 5 kids and Greg has always wanted 3, so when we got married we decided we would compromise at 4.

For the last week I had been noticing some pregnancy symptoms. A little bit of nausea (thankfully not too extreme), tiredness (I was falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the afternoon), more headaches, and just a general feeling that there was a baby growing inside of me. Well, yesterday at 4am I woke up and took a pregnancy test. This is what I saw. Can't get any more obvious than that. I was thrilled. I ran in and woke Greg up. This Christmas we got a card from a lady at the church. Inside it said "To Greg, Emily, Nathan, Elijah, Samuel and Baby Fish." At first I was offended and figured I better lose some weight. Then Greg said maybe the lady was a prophet. Turns out he was right and so was she. So that is how I broke the news to Greg. "Honey, turns out _______ is a prophet." Greg:"What?, Whatever." Emily: "I have the test to prove it. Wanna see?" Greg: "Whatever." Emily : "I'm serious, this is not a joke." It was pretty funny though. We are thrilled. He wasn't thrilled however that I woke him up at 4:30 am and he never got back to sleep. Oh well! We told the boys yesterday too. Both Nate and Eli looked at us and asked, "Really mom?" When we asked them if that would be ok, Nate said "yes", Eli said, "I dont' know yet." Guess you have to give white some time to process it. Sam just laid his head on my shoulder. Later I was helping the kids get ready for church. I was wearing drawstring shorts and had my shirt pulled down over the strings, so you could see the bulk from the strings though the shirt. Nate looked at it and pointed and said, "Mom, what is that?" I told him it was the strings and he said, "Oh, I thought it was a baby's foot." Too cute!

The baby is due to join our family on Sept. 25th. We are praying for a normal pregnancy. NO BEDREST! NO EARLY CONTRACTIONS! Health and happiness for everyone. We are so excited to meet the newest member of our family. I have my first dr.'s appt. next Wednesday at 1:40, so I'll update when I get back.

It's a conspiracy!!!

2008-11-30T18:17:00.000-08:00

Please watch this short video. I could change your life!

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

Greg and I have decided to join the advent conspiracy this year. So many things have changed in our lives over the last year and it's only getting better. We are really becoming aware of what is going on around the world. Things that so many people would rather ignore. I'm so excited about this. I guess some people will think of us as freaks. I don't care! I'm not buying Christmas lights this year. I will use the ones I already have, but I won't be buying any more.
I recently saw an interview with a chinese Christian who was abused at a factory in China while making Christmas lights. It is wrong the way these people are being treated and some are very young children.
"No company has come under as harsh a spotlight as Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, which sourced about $9 billion in goods from China in 2006, everything from hammers and toys to high-definition televisions. And so while American and European consumers worry about exposing their children to Chinese-made toys coated in lead, Chinese workers, often as young as 16, face far more serious hazards. Here in the Pearl River Delta region near Hong Kong, for example, factory workers lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year, according to a study published a few years ago by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. "At Wal-Mart, Christmas ornaments are cheap, and so are the lives of the young workers in China who make them," the National Labor Committee report said. "

I'm not saying stop buying gifts, I'm just saying instead of buying 6 gifts per person, buy 3. We have started with our kids. Each child gets 3 gifts. That is how many Jesus got, so that is how many they get. We also go through their toys a couple times a year and give away some to kids in Matamoros, Mexico. It is a way for the kids to sacrifice. It isn't easy for them, but it's good for them. Giving is not always easy for adults either, but it is good for us.

We always hear that if you give God will bless you. Today Greg and I had proof of that. While I was in Joplin the window on my van broke. It is rolled down a little bit and won't go back up. We have taped it up with duct tape. We know it needs to be fixed, but other things have priority since the tape is working fine right now (like giving). We decided to partner with http://www.kiva.org/ It is a micro loan organization that gives loans to entrepeneurs around the world so they can start providing for their families. We gave $150 in loans yesterday. 7 $25 loans to 7 different people. These are loans. We will get the money back when the businesses of these people become profitable. When the loans are paid back you can take your money or put it back into the progam for more people. This is what we will be doing. We also gave more cash to our church this morning beyond our tithe. It was a little bit of a stretch for us, but we felt we needed to do it even though we needed to fix the window. The spanish church threw Greg a surprise birthday party after church. They presented him with an card. Inside was $250 and a gas card!!! See how God blessed us? Now we have the money to fix the window and our giving didn't suffer.
All because we stepped out in faith. God has taken care of us everytime we have needed Him. When we worship God by trusting Him amazing things happen.

The slogan for the advent conspiracy, "Worship fully, spend less, give more, love all."

DEFINATELY!!

I think the church needs to get ready. Our nation is going through some hard times, and it's predicted that it's only going to get worse. The church needs to get ready. It's during hard times that people turn to God. The church needs to get ready. People are going to be searching for something to give their lives meaning. The church nees to get ready. We have that something . The church needs to get ready. God is going to use what was ment for bad to bring about good. The church needs to get ready. I can feel a revival coming on. The church needs to get ready. Awesome things are beginning to happen. Church, are you ready?

Soccer season

2008-10-30T21:32:00.000-07:00

I know this is my 3rd post today. I guess I'm just playing catch up. Soccer season is finally here. After a rough start (mainly with Eli), we are finally getting the hang of it. This is Nate's 2nd year to play. I am amazed how much he had improved over last year. He has become quit the player. He plays defense. He is always back by the goal and whenever the ball gets near he kicks it out. He has saved his team many times! I'm so proud. His team is the Scorpions.

Eli has scored 2 goals already this season. The first one was kind of accidental, but the 2nd one he ment to go in. It was great! We had a little trouble motivating him at first. His new favorite phrases are "That is soooo stupid!" and "It's so boring!". I can't stand it when he says that. Anyway, he thought soccer was soooo stupid and soooo boring! I tried it all to motivate him. Finally I came up with something. It worked and he has been doing awesome since. I'm so proud of him. He is actually enjoying it too. IMAGINE! Eli's team is the Cougars!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to "Boo at the Zoo". It was a lot of fun. The boys love it. Well, maybe not Nate so much. He hates the scary costumes. Eli would go up to the tables and say "trick or treat" 3 or 4 times trying to get more candy. Here are our little men.

I think the highlight of the evening was seeing the storm trooper from Star Wars. Nate and Eli both are big Star Wars fans right now.

Turns of life.

2008-10-08T06:04:00.000-07:00

Lots of things have been going on lately. Some are great and some not so much. First of all, my mother in law was diagnosed with breast cancer. It really was a shock for everyone. She has now had a masectomy and is recovering. We should know today what stage the cancer is at. My grandparents have had cancer. I guess maybe I was in denial when that happened. Maybe I thought if I didn't really acknowledge it it would just go away. I guess now that I am a little older I am realizing just how devestating cancer can be. I used to walk past all of the pink ribbons without thinking about it. Now I have a pink magnet ribbon on the back of my van, a pink bracelet that says "hope", 2 different pink pens, and an m&m bag full of pink m&ms. Pink now catches my eye. My mom told me this week that I would be better off to just send $20 to the organization than buy all of this stuff. But to me the pink makes a statement. It's a reminder to me too to pray. To pray not only for my mother in law but for all those who are fighting. For all those doctors working on a cure. One day it will happen!

A month ago my in laws came down for a visit. It was a great time for everyone. Here are a few pics.

Last week my parents were here. They did another color code conference. Greg was a little worried at first because it didn't seem like we had many registered. We were so pleased when about 60 showed up. I think it was a great time for everyone. Here are some pics from that week.

Back to School!!

2008-09-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well we have officially been back to school for 2 weeks now. The first few days was extremely difficult. I am homeschooling both Nate and Eli. Nate is in 1st grade and Eli in kinder. The first day Nate cried a lot and was telling me that he thought school was stupid. I told him he needed to get his attitude right. He has to go to school, so he gets to decide if he wants to go to school at home or go to the "big school". I found a great website for homeschoolers. homeschoolspot.com It has been a lifesaver. After our first day I got on the forum and told them about my horrible first day and asked for advice. They reminded me that the great thing about homeschooling is that we don't have to sit in a desk for 3 hours at a time. Some one suggested writing everything we had to do down on individual index cards and writing fun activities too. Then we choose a card from the work pile and do it, then choose one from the fun pile. Continue doing that until all the work is done. I adapted that into something that works for us. I have a chalk board in our office. I drew a line down the middle and wrote work on one side and fun on the other. Our fun things include: bingo, reading a book, playing with legos, video games (20 minutes), computer time (really counts as school but shhhhh!) and a coloring page. This seems to be working really well. We usually break for lunch around 11am. Our day starts around 9am when Greg goes to work. In that two hours we work until the kids starting getting restless then we pick a fun thing (usually bingo first) then we work a little more, then we have lunch. After lunch Eli and Sam lay down and Nate finishs school. He usually doesn't need a break in the afternoon. He is able to work much faster without Eli around. Then its free time for the rest of the day. Really its working out great!! I love that I am able to teach my children.

Our day at the zoo!!!

2008-07-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

Today the boys and I decided to go to the zoo. We were walking around enjoying the animals when a man from the zoo came up to us and told me that we needed to follow him immediately that there was a code red. I of course asked what that ment and he told me there was an animal loose. We followed him to the special events building. He got on his phone and asked someone to call him when the code red was over. A couple minutes later he walked us up to the front office. While we were up there I heard another worker tell someone that she was hearing two stories. She said she heard it was a ... (I didn't hear what she said) then the other worker she was talking to shhhhh!ed her and told her to come talk to her somewhere else. About 5 minutes later the all clear was given. They said the escaped animal was a Bongo Antelope. They are the 2nd biggest antelopes in the world. Here is a picture. I think it's a conspiracy though and it was a more dangerous animal. I talked later to another worker who told me the same story that it was the bongo and then told me someone got thier codes mixed up. Code Red is for a dangerous animal such as a lion or bear. A code yellow is for a non-dangerous animal like an antelope. I'm not sure I buy it. Anyway, what a story!! Nate also got stung by a bee for the first time. He screamed so loud. We went to the first aid station and we go the stinger out and I smashed the bee even though he was dying anyway. He is fine now. Here is a picture of my precious boys too.

Hurricane Dolly

2008-07-29T10:34:00.001-07:00

Well it's been an interesting week. On Saturday I was watching the news and they starting talking about a tropical storm hitting the Yuchatan. I figured we didn't have anything to worry about. On Sunday I saw that the projected path was leading straight toward Brownsville. It was projected to make a Category 1 hurricane before it hit land. Monday I watched the weather channel religiously. Now they had it going a little bit south. Monday afternoon the path was Brownsville again. I decided to throw some clothes in a bag just in case. Greg was scheduled to leave Tuesday morning witht he praise band for a convention in San Antonio. Tuesday morning the tropical storm was picking up speed. Greg left around 7:30am. I called some friends who have lived here their whole lives and asked what I should do. They offered for me to come over there during the storm for a hurricane party, but said they understood if I wanted to leave. They said they thought we would be fine though. Around 9:30 I decided to go get plywood to board up the windows. I figured I was the only crazy on in Brownsville. NOT SO!! When I arrived at Home Depot there were tons of people. I had to wait in line for about 10 minutes to get the plywood. If my husband had been a little more concerned for his family this would have already been done. He thought there was no need for it. I am always thinking, "Better safe than sorry." (I still wasn't sure if I was staying or going.) While waiting in line to pay I asked a worker at home depot if he was from Brownsville. He said that he was and then I told him my situation. "My husband is out of town and I am going to be here by myself with the kids if I decide to stay. Am I ok to stay or should I leave?" He said, "If you were my wife I would make you go." DONE!! I went home and thanks to my wonderful friend Racheal and her awesome kids Asha and Isaiah we got the plywood up on the windows. Then I loaded the car and drove to San Antonio. Well, I think we did the right thing (no matter what Greg says). Tuesday afternoon Dolly became a Category 1 hurricane and Wednesday a Category 2. I would have been terrified had I been at home by myself. We came back to Brownsville on Friday. There was a lot of flooding about 30 miles north of Brownsville. We lost some shingles and the kids swingset looks like its a goner, but other than that we are fine. Here are a couple pictures of flooding and damage.

Life!

2008-06-14T10:19:00.000-07:00

My three little ones are keeping me busy. Too busy to write on here obviously, but I thought I would take just a second as my groceries are calling my name to be put away. The kids are hungry, Sam needs to go down for a nap, but that all will have to wait while I do this. I know, I'm horrible. Although things have been busy they have been good. I am teaching the 3&4's Sunday school class, I am leading a women's Bible study on Wednesday nights, we have swimming lessons and fun summer activities that are going on around town, the Spanish service just got moved to 9:30 am on Sunday in the sanctuary, I have been helping out with Beth's kids since she had her 4th 4 days ago, scrapbooking, and all this on top of everyday normal things like laundry, playing with the kids, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, etc. etc. etc. Wow! I'm tired just thinking about it.

Nate turned 6 2 days ago! I can't believe it! Time goes so fast. When Greg brought the cake home for his party I fully expected it to say, "Happy 4th Birthday Nathan!" When I say Happy 6th Birthday my first reaction was, "They got it wrong!" Then it dawned on me that I have a 6 year old!!!!!! It feels so crazy. I guess 6 is kind of the magic number from going to a little kid to just a kid. Some days I wish I could have my little mouse back! Then I look at him and the wonderful little (see I'm still thinking of him as little) boy he has become and how he knows about Jesus and loves him and how most of the time he loves his brothers and how he still comes up to me for hugs and he just wants to be held sometimes and realized how blessed I am. The way he is tells me that I'm not a complete failure as a parent (although there are definatly days I wonder why in the world the Lord thought he could trust me with 3). I'm doing something right because he is a really great kid (most of the time)!

Eli is doing well too. He broke is collar bone about a month ago. He was playing on the window sill which he was not supposed to be doing and fell off. I think he hit a toy box on the way down. I was on the computer and heard him cry and ran in there. At first I thought it was just another one of those falls. I told him he would be fine and went on about my business. A couple minutes later he came in crying telling me it hurt. He has been grouchy all day so I told him to go take a nap (even though it was already 2pm). A couple minutes later he came in again and told me it hurt so I decided to take a look. After I had him lift up his arms so I could take off his shirt I realized his right arm looked a little funny. I immediately called Greg and told him to bring me the car that I thought Eli had dislocated his shoulder or something. Greg was home within 10 minutes and Eli and I headed to the dr. After 3 hours at the dr. this is what the xray showed. We were referred to a specialist who put E in a brace. 2 1/2 weeks later we went back and the brace was taken off. The specialist wants to see him back in 4 weeks to make sure it is completely healed. I knew with 3 boys that a broken bone was inevitable, it was just a matter of when and which child. Thankfully it wasn't worse. Eli has also been doing swimming lessons. He as so scared of the water at first. He would hold onto my neck for dear life. After only 5 days he is loving the water and wants everyday to be swimming lesson day.

Sam is well... Sam. He is so precious, but man is he a handful. This morning I asked Nate where Sam was and he said in the bathroom. Immediately I thought of Sam playing in the toilet. When I went in instead of finding him splashing around in the disease infested waters of the toilet I find him sitting in the sink playing with everyones tooth brushes. Oh this child!! Not 5 minutes later I come in and he is on top of the dining room table. He is by far my most curious and daring child. At swimming lessons the other day he got away from me for a second and headed straight for the water. If I had been one second further behind he would have ended up in the pool. The kid has no fear!! As much of a handful as he is he brings so much joy to this family. As our yellow (color code not jaudice) he is always making sure everyone is happy. He gives kisses andhugs spur of the moment and is always doing silly things, whether it be dancing in the middle of the floor of falling down on purpose to make you laugh. What a blessing!!

Greg and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on June 3rd. We were able to leave the kids with Beth and go on a date. We went to see a movie and then went to Texas Roadhouse. It was so nice!

Well, I better go finish putting away the groceries so I can get to ironing. UGH!!!

Good bye 2007 HELLOOO 2008!

2008-01-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've been stuck in a whirlwind the last 2 months. So much has gone on. Sam turned one on December 5th. I can't believe how fast that year went by. He is running everywhere. I can't turn my back on him for 5 seconds!

It's amazing to think that this time last year I had a 3 week old baby! Unreal how much they change in one year. I love seeing Sam's personality coming out though. In mom and dad's color code we think he is a yellow. He is always going around giving people hugs and making funny faces so people will smile. Yellows are "smile checkers". He is such a wonderful baby. Here is a picture of his latest funny face.

In my next to last post I mentioned the "little angels" that I was in charge of for the Christmas program. Here are some of the pictures from then. The boys did a great job! This is the first year Eli has done it. Technically he isn't old enough until he is 4, but since I was in charge we made an exception. He did so awesome. This is the first year Nate hasn't hidden behind the bigger kids. I guess because this year he was the bigger kid. Next year he moves up to the big kid program. He is so excited! Anyway, here are the pics.

Greg's family visited in mid-December. We has so much fun staying on the beach with them. The kids love having family around. This Christmas was one Greg and I will not soon forget. Greg was in charge of the Christmas Eve service at 6pm. All went well. After church we went by Wendy's for dinner. We all ate and the boys opened their traditional Christmas pj's and went to bed. Around 8:30 I started to feel pretty bad. My stomach was very upset which it had been off and on for the last week or so. My first thought..."here comes baby #4!" Around 10pm the toilet and I started to get aquainted and we reamained close the rest of the night. When I heard Greg also making a move on the toilet around 2am I first felt sorry for him and them was totally relieved because I realized that baby #4 was not going to be making an appearance yet! WHEW!!! Anyway, we thought we had food poisoning, but realized it was probably a bug when Nate started throwing up a couple days later. Thankfully everyone was well by New Years Eve. We had a really fun time New Years Eve with our friends here. Here is a picture of Greg and I on new years.

Tonight at our Women's Bible study we were talking about Namaan's wife's maid servant. How she used her actions to show Namaan's family God. The lady teaching the study used the words, "She lived a life of joy, peace and purpose." That one sentence got me thinking. I have these revelation moments and vow to change, but life usually catches up with me the next day and it goes out the window. This time is going to be different. Years from now when I am gone, when my kids think about me I want them to think about how much joy and peace our home had. I don't want them to think about the times I yelled at them because I had told them 15 times to clean their room. I want my kids to know their purpose in life. As Christians we have all been put here for a reason and that reason is to glorify God and let others know what we know. I believe God sets up divine appointments for us everyday, whether it is with our kids or a complete stranger. How many of those appointments have I missed because I've been too wrapped up in myself? Worried about how I might sound, or scared because the person only speaks Spanish and mine isn't that great, or I just don't want to! My friend Beth and I were also talking about how hard it is in the stage of life we are in with kids to sit down at church and have a meaningful conversation with someone because we are constantly worried about the kids. It's just a stage, but it makes you think how many people have slipped through. Anyway, I'm rambling, but I just wanted to share my BIG new years resolution. Please pray for me as I try to make giant leaps toward the woman of God that I so desperately desire to be. Blessings and Happy New Year!

Why I am thankful!

2007-11-21T05:11:00.001-08:00

In the spirit of the season I thought I should write down why I am thankful.

I am so thankful to know a God who is loving, kind, forgiving, almighty, enduring, faithful, awesome, and the list could go on forever! Without Him all things are meaningless!

I am thankful for my husband. For gifts that God has given to him. For the happiness he brings to my life. For the way he challenges me to become a better person (even though it hurts sometimes). I am thankful that he also knows the Lord. I'm thankful that he has given me three beautiful sons!

I am thankful for my sons! Nathan, Elijah and Samuel. I am so thankful that you have come into my life. I feel so priviledged to be your mommy. Everyday you teach me new things. It's the little things in life that really matter. Drawing with chalk on the sidewalk, stopping to watch the ant, picking flowers, snuggling on the couch. Thank you so much for all you have taught me.

I am thankful for my parents. They have taught me so much in my life. They have been examples to me. How to be a good mother. How to pick a good husband. How to have a wonderful marriage. I'm thankful that they raised me in a Christian home and introduced me to Jesus. As crazy as it may sound, I am thankful for the People Code. For what it has taught me over the last year. For the way it has changed every relationship in my life. For the way it is making me a better person.

I'm thankful for my inlaws that they taught Greg about Jesus. I'm thankful for the way they love us. For the way they adore my kids.

I'm thankful for my sisters (inlaws included)! Not only are they my sisters, but they are my best friends!

I'm thankful for my home and all the wonderful things that God has given me!

I'm thankful for my friends everywhere! I don't know what I would do without you guys!

Looking back on my list, I have a lot to be thankful for. God has blessed me beyond measure! Take a moment to stop and thank God for what he has given to you!

Blessings to all and have a wonderful thanksgiving!!!!

Time flies!!

2007-11-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

I just got on here and it says I haven't written since May 4th!!!! I guess time flies whether you are having fun or not! Ok, well, a little update.

Things are crazy here right now. We've had sickness in the house for the last 2 weeks. First Sam had a fever, then I got sick, then Nate and Eli, then Sam had an ear infection and Eli had strep throat. We went back to the dr. yesterday because after 6 days on antibiotics Eli still had a fever. Apparently he is immune to ammoxicilin since he was given it so much when he was a baby for ear infections. So the dr. gave him zithromax lastnight. He is still pretty miserable. His temp was 102.5 this morning at 5am. Hopefully by tonight he will feel better.

Nate is doing homeschool still. I haven't been very good about doing it everyday, but I think part of the first year is getting to know what works and what doesn't. He knows his letters and can sound out some words on his own. He wants to draw and write all the time. He is doing simple addition and knows who the first president was and who our president is now. He is also playing soccer and loving it. He has his last game of the season on Saturday. Here is a picture of him with some of his team mates. He has really improved since the beginning of the season. He actually scored a goal a few weeks ago. It was after the ref blew the wistle, but it went in, so we are counting it.

Eli is also learning with homeschool. He can write his name now and his pictures are actually looking like something. He is wanting to learn right a long with Nate and I find that encouraging. Eli can't wait until the next fall soccer season when he can play too. Whenever we go to the field he always tells us he is sooooo hungry. He loves to eat the snacks from the consession stand. Right now he thinks kisses are yucky! I keep trying to tell him that mommy kisses aren't yucky, but I have yet to convince him.

Sam is growing and learning more everyday. He is starting to take steps on his own. He hates being away from his brothers. He wants to be right in the middle of all the action. I can't believe he will be one year old in a month. CRAZY!!! He is such a happy baby. It's nice because I know that if he cries something is wrong. He doesn't just cry to cry. He weighs 18lbs. 8 oz. and is 31 inches long. I guess that means he is kind of small weight wise, but you definately can't tell. He is such a joy as are all of my kids.

Things with the church have been good. We are getting ready to go calling tomorrow (if everyone is well) and hand out cookies to the people in the church. We want them to know that just like cookies have different ingredients to make them taste good, our church has to have different people to make it function right. We want them to know that our church wouldn't be the same without them.

With the holidays coming up things are getting crazy for Greg. He has so many different things to do this time of year. We just got finished with the fall festival on Sunday. The turnout was great. I heard over 400 people came! Here are the kids in their costumes. They looked so cute and loved dressing up. Nate wanted to wear his spiderman all the time!!! Greg is already starting to focus on the Christmas eve service. I am in charge of the "little angels" this year. Its 4 and 5 year olds and Eli dressed up as angels. We will sing a couple of songs before the older kids come out to do the Christmas program.

I am kind of sad this year we won't have any family here for Thanksgiving, but I am also looking forward to getting together with our friends the Ridgeways and the Deysels. Neither of these families has family nearby. All of the Ridgeways family is either in Florida or Indiana and the Deysels family is all in South Africa. We really get along well together and it is nice that we have each other to hang out with. Greg's family is coming around the 16th of December for a week. That will be nice to see them. And my mom is coming next week!!!! YAY!!! I wish my dad could come too though, but it will be nice to see my mom.

My photography business is somewhat taking off. I have done a couple shoots for friends. Hopefully soon I will feel confident enough to venture out and take pictures for actual clients and not just friends who are nice enough to humor me.

I guess that's about it. Hopefully it won't be 5 months before I write again. Blessings!!!!

Emily

LIFE IS GOOD!!

2007-05-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

Life is good! A little crazy, but good. Life with 3 boys is awesome. Nate and Eli have adjusted very well to Sam. They love him so much! Sam is growing like crazy. He was 15lbs. 14 oz. at his last dr. appt. I had to take him in for pinkeye. His eye was completely swollen shut. Not a pretty sight. Thankfully he has recovered. He will be five months old tomorrow. It's amazing how quickly time passes! He is rolling over now. He loves to look at himself in the mirror. His newest thing is grabbing faces and pulling you toward him. I like to think that these are kisses. Sweet kisses!

Eli is doing great too! Growing everyday. He has turned 3 since I last wrote. He's gone from a baby to a little boy. He has slimmed down and is talking so well. He is very strong willed and we often butt heads. He likes to have the sippy cup he wants, if I give him the yellow plate he will cry until I give him the green plate (or whatever color he wants at the moment) or until I put my foot down. Sometimes the battle isn't worth it. As strongwilled as he is he is also so loving. I can't even count the number of times during the day he will come up to me and give hugs and kisses. Actually he is doing it as I type. So sweet!

Nate is getting ready to turn 5 next month. When did that happen?! He has learned all the letters in the alphabet and can recognize all of the capital letters. We are still working on the lower case. We will be driving around and he will ask, "Mom, what does VOGUE spell?" I was really impressed with that one! He is also learning what sounds the letters make. He is even reading Dick and Jane. What a smart kid!!

Greg and I are doing well too. We will be married 7 years next month! We've been together for 13 years in October! That's a long time. I guess that officially means I have been with him 1/2 of my life! That's crazy!!!!

I have decided to homeschool Nathan. I'm just taking it one year at a time. I'll will homeschool kindergarten and if it turns out to be too hard for me or if he doesn't like it, he will go to public school for first grade. If things go well, we will continue. I have many reasons for doing this and the more I pray about it and think about it the more convinced I become that it is the right thing for my family. I am really excited about taking this on.

Well, anyway, I have to get out the door for MOPS. I just wanted to give a quick update. I will try to write more often.

LIfe with 3 boys!

2007-02-19T08:19:00.000-08:00

Well, Samuel is now 2 1/2 months old. I was really nervous about adjusting to life with 3 kids. I had heard both sides of the spectrum, that going from 2 to 3 was horrible and that it wasn't that bad. Thankfully I think I am one of the lucky ones. It has been a very smooth transition for me. It helps that Sam is just a wonderful baby. He only cries if he is tired. Then it's not really a cry, just griping. I have done a lot of reading this time around and I think that has made my life a lot easier. I've learned what signs to watch for from Sam. He has hungry signs, tired signs, I want to stretch signs, cuddle me signs. I know all babies do, but I don't feel like I was as in tune to the other boys signs as I am to Sam's. Nursing has been so much easier this time around. He has yet to have any formula and I'm going to try to keep it that way. He sleeps great at night. As a matter of fact, lastnight he slept from 10pm to 7am. Didn't wake up at all during the night. Usually he will go to bed around 10pm and sleep to 4 or 5 am, eat and then go back to sleep. Today he got up at 7 am, ate and went back down. He is just starting to stir again and it's 10:45am!!! What a good boy! Sam weighed in at 13lbs. 5oz. at his 2 month check up. Big boy!

Nate and Eli are adjusting well too. They love their little brother so much. They have been very gentle with him. They love to give him hugs and kisses. Nate likes to hold him, but only for about 2 seconds at a time. They are all three such good kids. Here is the latest picture of them.

Welcome to the world Samuel Malachi!

2006-12-11T19:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not super proud of this birth story, but it is something I want Samuel to know about when he gets older. I am proud that I did it the way I did it, just not too proud of how I handled it. I'm so glad I experienced labor without medication, but in no way will I ever do it again. Labor without medication that it. I do plan on going through labor at least one more time.

Samuel Malachi
December 5th 1:48 pm
7 lbs. 5.9 oz. 20 inches

I went in for my induction at 7am. We sat in the waiting room until around 8am waiting for our room. I was taken in and asked a million questions. My dr. came in around 8:20 to break my water but the nurse hadn't started my IV yet so they had to wait. At 9:15 while I was waiting for my dr. to come back in they started my on pitocin. By 10:00 I was having regular contractions. My dr. came in around 10:30 and asked if I wanted to get the epidural before or after my water was broken. I told her I just wanted to make sure I got it while I still had time. My sister waited to late and had to deliver without medication. She said she would go ahead and call the anestheiologist and order my epidural before breaking my water. The epidural was really painful this time. Greg almost passed out on my twice. He literally had to leave the room. He was white as a ghost. I felt bad for him, but also thought it was pretty funny. When he got done with the epidural I had a feeling it wasn't right, but things were going numb, so I decided it was probably fine. The dr. came in and broke my water around 11:30. I was 3 cm dilated. I continued to feel pain in my back and pressure in my belly, so the anestheiologist was called back in. He said the baby was probably laying on my siatic nerve and the pain would go away as soon as he was past it. A few minutes later I told the nurse I felt like I had to push so she checked me and I was 4 cm. They turned me on my side to see if they could get the epidural to take effect everywhere. The pain only got worse with that. By this time I am really breathing hard through the contractions (with an epidural). Greg said he had never seen me like that. Again they called the anestheiologist back. My dr. came in at this time too. The anestheiologist told her that the pain was just my siactic. Greg asked the dr. if I could have IV drugs since the epidural wasn't working. I guess they gave me some, but not sure what they gave me. By this point I am starting to scream that I had to push. I felt so much pressure. The contractions were so painful. My dr. kept telling the anestheiologist that the pain I was having was not my siactic! They turned the pitocin off and I am yelling through every contraction. The dr. checks me and I am 6cm. I keep telling her I have to push. She said push it will help the rest of your cervix go away. The anestheiologist and the nurses are telling me to breathe through it and the dr. is telling them to shut up and for me to push. I felt the baby drop further down and started yelling that I didn't want to feel that again. The dr. said I know, but you have too. I don't know what time it was when the dr. checked me again, but she said, we need to get things ready or she is going to have this baby on the bed. About 7 nurses started running around my room getting things set up. It was a little scary, but I was in too much pain to care. Greg kept telling me of my progress. "Ok, his head is half way out, keep going". Ok, here comes the rest of it, ok, his head is out. " I was freaking out at this point, Begging God to help me and cussing like I've never cussed before at the same time. It felt like an out of body experience. My body was doing on thing while my mind was thinking another. It's almost like it couldn't control it. Finally the dr. said "Emily, look at me. One more push and he is out" So I gave it everything I had and out came Samuel Malachi at 1:48 pm. From first contraction to delivery it was 4 1/2 hours. Pretty darn fast. The medicine they gave me didn't take away any of the pain. I felt it all! I guess whatever they gave me through the IV did have and effect on me though because as soon as he was out I felt like I couldn't keep my eyes open. I was literally falling asleep on the bed. That only lasted until they put my beautiful boy in my arms. AMAZING! Thank God for a healthy baby!!

It's almost over.

2006-11-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been off bedrest for over 3 weeks now and still no baby! Who would have ever thought that I would still be pregnant at the end of November?!! I never ever entertained the thought that I wouldn't have a baby in my arms for Thanksgiving. I guess that is something to be thankful for though because now I know he will be very healthy and he will come home from the hospital with me.

This has been a pretty difficult pregnancy for me. I don't know if it's because I have two little ones at home already or for some other reason. The bedrest was difficult, but it seems to have gotten harder since coming off the bedrest. I think having the doctor tell me so many times that she didn't expect me to make it to my next appt. has something to do with it too. She kept telling me that I would deliver Samuel before I delivered either of the boys. Well, she was wrong on that one. I've never gotten this far in a pregnancy before. I'll be 38 weeks tomorrow! UNREAL!! I'm so tired of not getting a good nights sleep. I know that won't change when the baby comes, but at least the sleep I will get will be comfortable sleep. Right now it's a battle to find a comfortable position to sleep in. I'm tired of being out of breath all the time, of having to squat so I can reach what is on the floor (sometimes it's still a struggle). I don't remember having all of these difficulties with Nate and Eli. Odd since I feel like I am smaller with this baby than with the boys.

As difficult as this pregnancy has been I feel extremely blessed that Samuel is coming to join our family. He is already teaching me so many things. Like patience!! Well, the wait is almost over. I went to the dr. on Monday and asked her is she would be so kind and to encourage this kid to come out. She has scheduled me for an induction on Tuesday, December 5th. So if Samuel decides to stay in until then his birthday will be December 5th. I'm so excited!! I can't wait to hold my precious baby boy! I can't wait to see if he looks like Nate or Eli or if he looks completely different. How big will he be? Will he have hair or be bald?
I'm also a little nervous about the delivery. Ok, I'm a lot nervous! I was laying in bed the other day thinking about the pain and then thinking about getting the epidural to get rid of the pain. OUCH!!! Thanks a lot EVE!! I told Greg the other day that child birth is the worst pain that we inflict on ourselves. There is nothing natural that is more painful, yet we keep going back for more. I'm not sure if that makes us stupid, ignorant, dumb, or the most loving creatures ever. Probably all of the above. Anyway, as the time for Samuel to enter the world draws near there are a few things I would like to say to him.

Samuel, even though we have not met face to face yet I want you to know that you have already brought me more joy that you know. With each little movement I am reminded what a miracle you are and how amazing our God is!! Even with all of the difficulties this pregnancy has held I wouldn't change a thing. Because of all of the uncertainty you are even that much more of a miracle. God has answered my prayers by allowing you to grow strong and healthy while remaining inside of me. When you come out to join our family and as you grow, please remember how much your mommy and daddy and big brothers love you, but most of all remember how much your heavenly Father loves you. He brought you into this world for a reason. It may take a long time to figure out what that reason is, but you have a purpose. I love you sweet boy and I can't wait to hold you in my arms and kiss your sweet little face! God Bless you little one!

NO MORE BEDREST!

2006-11-12T18:54:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a week since I've been off bedrest. Everyone thought I would have this baby a couple of days after I got up and around, but so far nothing. Nothing significant anyway. I've had a couple of nights this week that I thought for sure we were having a baby, but then teh contractions just quit. I did a little bit of research on something called prodromal labor and it seems to be what I have.

Often in the past prodromal labor has been given the misnomer "false labor", yet every woman experiencing it has said in frustration "There's nothing false about what I'm feeling!" The misunderstanding has arisen because prodromal labor can feel very much like active labor, yet is not consistently progressive; it does not lead without a break to the birth of the baby. It does, though, serve an important function in the birth process. Prodromal labor does the preliminary work of preparing the uterus, baby and cervix for birth. All of this work has to be done before the baby can be born. Some women's bodies do it all without her being aware of it. However, some women's bodies draw a great deal of attention to the work being done. Too much sometimes.

"This is driving me crazy," one pregnant mother sighed. "I've been having contractions off and on now for three days. Just when I think it's time to call my midwife, they completely stop again!"

Length:

Prodromal labor contractions may begin hours or even days before active labor.
Contractions:

The contractions may feel like Braxton Hicks contractions or they may be quite a bit stronger.

They are irregular in length, frequency and intensity. The key word here is irregular. In general though, they are not longer than a minute and not more frequent than 7 to 10 minutes apart. They shouldn't be so intense that they take your breath away.

They may or may not be affected by your activity. The wisest course is to vary your activity level, alternating periods of mild activity with rest.

Physical Effects:

The cervix is moving from a posterior (back) position to an anterior (forward) position.

The cervix is softening.

The cervix is beginning its effacement or thinning. It may thin anywhere from 0% to 50% during this stage.

You may lose your mucous plug from the cervix.

Your cervix may begin to dilate, opening anywhere from 1 to 4 centimeters.
Emotional Effects:

You may be quite excited when you first feel these contractions, especially if they are stronger than any you've had until now.

As time goes on and the contractions continue without any apparent progress you may feel let down and eventually become quite tired and discouraged.

This described exactly how I've been feeling. Once the contractions were so strong I was in tears. I'm encouraging this kiddo to make is appearance by being really active. Lots of cleaning and walking. And other things I won't mention. I even made "labor brownies" today. The ingredients are the same as in regular brownies, so I'm not putting much hope in these. Although I am convinced that eating BBQ pork ribs sent me into labor with Eli. Maybe I'll try that again. I still have 4 weeks to go in the pregnancy, so I still have some time, I'm just getting impatient because I expected him to be here already. I am 35 weeks 3 days today. Nate was born at 35 weeks 3 days and Eli at 36 weeks 6 days, so I'm pretty sure we will have a baby within the next 2 weeks. He could surprise me though.

I'm just so happy to finally be able to get off the couch and clean my kitchen and do the laundry and spank the kids! Who thought I'd ever say that?!! I think the kdis are probably happy to have their mom back too. Greg did an awesome job playing Mr. Mom, but I know he was getting sick of it. He is probably the happiest of us all!!! Thanks honey!

I think tomorrow I am going to make a trip out to the shed and get out our Christmas decorations. The kids and I will put up everything but the tree and the outside lights. Greg gets the honor of putting up the lights (his least favorite job ever!). I'm kind of thinking it would be fun to wait until Sam is born to put up the tree. Unless he decides to wait until after Thanksgiving. If he isn't here by then we are putting it up without him. Sorry buddy. I'm so anxious for Christmas. I also need to see if I can find my non-maternity clothes. I looked the other day, but didn't see them. I think I missed about 3 boxes though, so hopefully they are in there. If not I guess I'll just have to go buy some new ones. Not too many though. Greg and I are planning on going on a diet after Sam comes. Val wrote out for us what she had done and we are going to follow that. Val has lost a lot of weight and she looks awesome! WAY TO GO VAL!!! Ok, I think that is it for now. See ya!

Bedrest Update

2006-09-27T14:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the dr. this morning. She is keeping me on bedrest for the next 5 1/2 weeks. She will take me off at 34 weeks (around Nov. 2nd) She expects the baby to come not long after that. Hopefully the next few weeks will fly by and before I know it I will be holding a happy and healthy baby Samuel in my arms.

Bedrest!

2006-09-26T07:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it's happened again. Sunday I went to the hospital in Harlingen for a Sibling Education class with Nathan. He was going to learn how to change a diaper and help out with his new baby brother. I got there and found out the class hadn't been scheduled. So Nate and I headed out to get icecream. I had been having a lot of contractions that day and decided to call my dr. while I was in Harlingen so just in case she wanted to me to go to the hospital I wouldn't have to drive all the way from Brownsville again. Well, she did tell me to go in. They hooked me up to the monitors (watches for contractions and keeps baby heartbeat). I was showing what the oncall dr. called irritability, but no contractions. She called my dr. and she wanted to admit me. Miss Nikki (the children's minister at Central) came and picked Nate up and I was transfered to the postpartum unit to be monitored. I was told that I would have steroid shots to help mature Sam's lungs faster and I would be monitored every 8 hours for 30 minutes to check on the contractions. The first night I got about 3 hours sleep with the nurses coming in to take my blood pressure and temp. And the contractions were keeping me awake, but none of them were showing up when they would put the monitors on. WIERD and ANNOYING!! Finally I got a nurse who told me that they trust what moms say over the monitors, especially if it is not their first baby. In other words, I know when I'm having a contration. Been there done that! On Tuesday I finished the steroid shots and talked to the dr. around 6:00pm. She told me that I hadn't been kept because of preterm labor, but because while I was at the hospital she wanted to go ahead and give me the steroid shots because of my history with preterm labor. I was really thankful for this and was going to ask her about it at my next appt. Anyway, I have been put on complete bedrest. All I can do it take a shower and go to the bathroom!! Really fun when you have a 4 and 2 year old at home! Greg has been awesome through all of this. He is doing the dishes and laundry and taking care of the kids. My MOPS group and a few ladies from the church have been providing meals for us. I have really been blessed by the caring and concern that people have shown us. I go to the dr. tomorrow for a reevaluation. She is going to ask about my contractions and probably make sure I haven't started to dialate. If she thinks I'm ok, then she may take me off bedrest. Truthfully I doubt that will happen though because I'm going to have to tell her that I can definately tell a difference in the contractions when I am laying down and when I get up to take a shower (or fold the occasional load of laundry. SHHHHH!). Yesterday I had to go to the store with Greg to get my WIC voucher food. I am the only one who can sign for it and I needed milk. I felt horrible for the rest of the night. We were only at the store maybe 20 minutes too. Anyway, just wanted to give you all an update. I'll update again after tomorrow appt.

2006-08-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

Lifetime of Lasts

2006-08-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

When I found out I was pregnant with Nate, my mom began telling me to enjoy every moment because life goes by so fast. She has reminded me of this throughout the last four years. Other too have told me how fast your children grow up. "You'll blink and they will be graduating high school." Because I have heard this so much I have really tried to treasure the moments with my boys. I told a friend the other day that I didn't want to send Nate to school yet because I knew that was the beginning of the lightning years. Once school starts it seems like life is going to go by ten times faster. I know there is nothing that I can do about it, so I have decided to enjoy my sons. Squeeze them a little tighter and hold them a little longer during hugs. Let them splash a little longer in the tub, even if it is a huge mess to clean up later. When they want my attention to turn off the TV, or let the dishes sit in the sink, or let the laundry pile up a little and listen to what their sweet voices have to say. My mom in all her wisdom has taught me to cherish my children. I can never thank her enough for that lesson. Thank you momma!

That being said, I have been reading a series of books by Karen Kingsbury with Gary Smalley. It is called the Redemption Series and I definately recommend it for anyone wanting a good read. In the fourth book of this series a mother writes a poem to her only son on the night before his wedding. As I read this poem I cried. Not just a tear here and there. I was sobbing. I read the poem to Greg and he couldn't understand half of it because I was crying so hard. I think every mom has regrets when the kids are all moved out of the house, but I am determined to have a minimal amount of them. We'll see how that works out in 20 years or so. Anyway, here is the poem. Don't let it make you sad, just let it make you appreciate your children more. Blessings to all!!

Long ago you came to me, a miracle of firsts
First smiles and teeth and baby steps, a sunbeam on the burst.
But one day you will move away and leave me to your past,
And I will be left thinking of a lifetime of your lasts.

The last time that I held a bottle to your baby lips…
Last time that I lifted you and held you on my hip…
Last time when you had a binky stuck inside your mouth…
The last time that you crawled across the floor of this old house.

Last time when you ran to me still small enough to hold,
Last time when you said you’d marry me when you grew old.
Precious, simple moments and bright flashes from the past,
Would I have held you longer if I’d known they were the last?”

Your last few hours of kindergarten, last days of first grade…
Last at bat in Little League, last colored paper made.
Last time that I tucked you in for one last midday nap…
Last time when you wore your beat-up Green Bay Packers cap.

Last time that you caught a frog in that old backyard pond…
Last time when you can barefoot across our fresh-cut lawn.
Silly scattered images to represent your past.
Would I have taken pictures if I’d known they were the last?

The last dark night you slipped in bed and slept between us two,
When last I read to you of God or Horton Hears a Who!
Last time that I smelled your hair and prayed after your shower…
Last time that we held devotions in the evening hours.

The last time you were M.J. in our games of give-and-go…
Last time that you made an angel in the melting snow.
I never even said good-bye to yesterdays long passed.
Would I have marked the moments if I’d known they were the last?

Last Piano lesson, and last soccer goal you kicked…
The last few weeks of middle school, last flowers that you picked.
Last time that you needed me for rides from here to there…
Last time that you spent the night with that old tattered bear.

Last time that I helped you with a math or spelling test,
Last time when I shouted that your room was still a mess.
Time and life moved quicker, taking pieces of your past.
Would I have stretched the moments if I’d known they were the last?

The last time that you needed help with details of a dance…
Last time that you asked me for advice about romance.
Last time that you talked to me about your hopes and dreams.
Last time that you wore a jersey for your high school team.

I watched you grow and never noticed seasons as they passed.
I wish I could’ve frozen time to hold on to your lasts.
For come tomorrow morning life will never be the same.
You’ll pledge forever to your girl, and she will take your name.

And I will watch you knowing God had blessed you with this day
I never would have wanted, son, to somehow make you stay.
They say a son’s a son until he takes for him a wife.
You’re grown-up now; it’s time to go and start your brand-new life.

One last hug, one last good-bye, one quick and hurried kiss…
One last time to understand just how much you’ll be missed.
I’ll watch you leave and think how quickly childhood sped past.
Would I have held on longer if I’d know it was your last?

2006-08-28T07:55:00.000-07:00

2006-08-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy around here. Since I wrote last, we have gone to Arizona on vacation.

We went to Arizona to see Greg's grandparents, but we took a little detour. It was great, but I think I would enjoy it more if I would leave the kids with grandparents and not have to worry about them getting too close to the edge. It's a little scary for a momma. They boys enjoyed it so much too. They were both made Jr. Park Rangers. This was such an honor, especially for Nate who would go around sticking his chest out (to show everyone his Jr. Park Ranger badge) telling everyone he was a Jr. Park Ranger. When we would stop at different areas through the Oak River canyon he would always ask if there were signs. He loved looking at all of the informational signs. It really was cute!! Here is a picture of the Jr. Park Rangers. The day after visiting the Grand Canyon we were on our way home. We had to be at the airport at 4:30 because of the new restrictions they were putting on people about having liquids on the plane. Thankfully we had no trouble getting through security. Everything was fine until we got to the Houston airport. We were supposed to have about 35 minutes to catch our last flight. When we arrived we looked around at the TV's trying to figure out which gate we were supposed to be at. Our flight wasn't listed. We found a worker and asked for help. She called someone and we found out our flight had left 20 minutes earlier. I guess that's what you get when you book though expedia. We were put on the next flight to San Antonio which was leaving 2 hours later. It was frustrating having to wait another two hours. We had been up since 3:00 am and it was now 3:30 pm. I was tired, the boys were tired and we still had a 4-5 hour drive once we go into San Antonio. Everything worked out though and we pulled into our drive way around midnight.

Now that all of our traveling is over for awhile it is time to get ready for the baby's arrival. Since I went into labor early with Nate and Eli I want to make sure everything is ready with plenty of time to spare just in case history repeats itself. I am 9 weeks away from when I went into labor with Nate and was put on bedrest until his arrival. We started painting the boys room. All 3 of them will be in the same room. I think we have a floor plan that will give us enough room to walk around. Greg is supposed to help me finish the painting today. We'll see! I have all of the baby's clothes washed. Most of them are hanging in the closet already. Nate is getting really excited. Nate likes to come up to me and put his head on my belly. He asks if he is moving and then kisses my belly. Eli has started telling people how old he is. He will say "I'm 2, Nathan is 4, and Samuel." He can't leave out Samuel even though he doesn't have a number. It's sweet.

Last night Greg was in the 2nd Annual Gospel Music Explosion. He had to send in a demo and then go play for them. He was really excited that he made the cut. We went early with him since we only have one car and it was in Harlingen. We arrived at the church around 4:00. The program started at 6:00. Our car started to overheat on our way there, so I let it cool down and then took a speeding trip to O'Reilly to see if i could get it fixed. They told me it was a dealer only part, so we will have to take it in tomorrow. We arrived back at the church around 5:45. The program started at 6:00. At 7:00 the first act had still not come on. The preacher had been talking and had a guest preacher talk and there had been some praise and worship. I assumed we ould be home around 9:00. At 9:45 there were still 4 acts to go. Ones with multiple selections as opposed to selections. I figured it could be another 45 minutes before the thing was over. We had not eaten dinner before we left. Some people from church were coming that we had not seen in awhile, so we figured we would go out to dinner with them afterward. Needless to say the kids were starving and so was I, not to mention they were so tired of sitting there they were about to go crazy. I took the kids outside. Greg followed. I told him I couldn't sit there another hour, so we were going to get food. I called my mom from the parking lot at Dairy Queen in tears. It seems like everytime we do one of these things they ended up lasting 3 hours or more. In my opinion, that is kindof overdoing it. Especially when over half the people who were there in the beginning are gone. The preacher there said, "If you are sitting there looking at your watch, you are a weak Christian". I couldn't believe he said that. As people were walking out he was calling them weak Christians. I think a lot of feelings were hurt. Maybe I am weak. But I have been here since 4:00. I have a 2 year old and a 4 year old who didn't get their full naps today. I am 7 months pregnant and none of us had dinner before we came. If we had known this thing was going to last so long we would not have come. I think sometimes people need to be more sensitive to other's time. Had Greg not been a part of the program we would have left. Anyway, I was just a bit upset. Not to mention I felt like a horrible person because I wanted to leave. We ended up leaving the church around 11:15. At 12:00 we finally crawled into bed exhausted. The program went a full 5 hours. Greg told me the people doing the program thought it went too long too which made me feel better. They didn't expect it to take that long. I just hope some things are changed for next year or I will not be attending the 3rd Annual Gospel Explosion. Sorry, didn't mean to get on a tantrum there. Greg did a great job by the way. I always get so nervous when he performs. Maybe more nervous than he is. Sometimes I find myself holding my breathe until he is done.

My parents are coming here on Sept. 10th. Mom wanted to fly on the 11th, but that didn't sound good to me. Anyway, they will be here in the evening and are staying until the evening of the 14th. I can't wait for them to see the house and all that we have done with it. I miss them so much. It will be so good to see them again. I can't wait!!!

Well, I guess that is all for now. I'll write again soon. Hopefully!

2006-07-25T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well, things have been super busy since my last post. We went to Joplin on Sunday July 2nd. After church we came home to take quick naps before our flight left at 5:40. I was trying to sleep but heard Greg talking to Nate. I went in to see what was going on. Greg was taking sheets off Nate's bed and putting them in the washing machine. Apparently Nate threw up. I thought it was just a fluke and maybe he was just excited. He was running around acting fine. Then I was in the bathroom doing my hair when he ran in and said "Mommy I have to throw up". Luckily he made it to the toilet. Then he was running around again. He threw up a couple more times before we left for the airport. Thankfully Greg had enough foresight to put a trashcan in the car for the 30 minute drive to the airport. More throwing up in the car by Nate and this time I joined him. I think mine was just motion sickness and baby. We were standing in line to board when we again had to make a mad dash for the bathroom. I think we used about 8 barf bags on the planes. We finally arrived in Tulsa around 9:30pm. Nate was so excited to see Grandmama and Grandaddy. He was walking really fast down the long hallway when out of the blue, BARF AGAIN!!! UGGGGG!!!! Thankfully that was the last of it. He fell asleep on the way home and the next morning was perfectly fine.

The morning of the 3rd Val came over with her family. It was the first time I got to meet my new neice Addelyn Demetria. She was one month old. She is absolutely beautiful and looks just like her momma. Ari had grown so much and it was so fun to have her say "Auntie Em!" and then reach up for me. I miss them both terribly. Greg's mom and dad came over in the morning. His mom made a breakfast casserole for us. It was great!

The night of the 3rd we were having all of our best friends over to my parents for a BBQ. Valery and Stef and I went to get some fireworks for that night. On the way there I started feeling queasy. I figured it was motion sickness again. I get it really bad! We got home again and the friends were starting to arrive. I started hugging everyone, but couldn't shake the queasiness. About an hour later it was my turn!! I was so sick all night and some of the next day. It was miserable. I almost had my dad take me to the hospital because I was scared of dehydration with the baby. I missed all of the fun with the friends that night. I was so disappointed. Everyone seemed to still have a good time though.

On the 4th the whole Benson clan was there. Mom and Dad, Me and my family, Val and her family, Holly and hubby and Stef. We had so much fun. Just being together was awesome. Eli had gotten sick early in the morning, but his only lasted about 3 hours and he was fine. While shooting off fireworks Greg got sick. He only threw up once though and he was finished. We thought about cancelling his flight that was supposed to leave the next morning, but he assured us he would be fine.

The next days were full of shopping, hanging out at the pool, Texas Hold 'Em, and just enjoying each others company.

Another Precious Baby Boy!!

2006-07-08T09:19:00.000-07:00

We found out yesterday that we are expecting another baby BOY!!!! I really thought this baby was a girl, but it's pretty obvious that I was wrong. His name will be Samuel Malachi. People keep saying, "Aww, I know you wanted that girl."
No, not necessarily. How could I go wrong with another boy! I just wanted a healthy baby and it looks like God is giving me that, so I am thrilled!!!

My new business idea!

2006-06-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

I'm going to work on my photography skills. I love taking pictures of the kids and some of them are pretty good! Here's an example. It's just something I like to do and a few people have told me they are pretty good. Anyway, here it is.

We've made a decision!

2006-06-12T16:00:00.000-07:00

We decided on names for the baby. For those of you who say they will change, THEY WILL NOT!!! (Valery)
Ok, so here they are.

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Do you really want to know?

Oh, never mind!

Just Kidding!!

We will be finding out at the end of July if this baby is a boy or girl. If it is a boy his name will be

Samuel Malachi

and if its a girl her name will be

Claire Elizabeth

So, what do you think? Answer: You love both names. No seriously, let me know what you think. WARNING: Your opinion will not change the names!!

We actually gave the boys the choice of the boy name (we gave them 2 to choose from) and they picked Samuel. Elizabeth was my great-great grandmothers middle name. Claire and Malachi just because I like them.

6 years!!

2006-06-06T17:30:00.000-07:00

Six years ago on June 3rd. I married the love of my life!! I can't believe it's been six years!! How time flies!! It's been a great six years and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful man to share my life with. I love you Greg!

I'm an Aunt again!!!

2006-06-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

Valery had her second daughter on June 1st!!! Addelyn Demetria. She is beautiful!!! It's hard to be so far away, but I will get to see her in 4 weeks!! I can't wait!! Ari seems so proud to be a big sister!! What fun!!! Valery had an all natural labor. Her water was broken at 8:00 and she delivered at 10:37!!! That's fast!! No medicine! MY HERO! Here is a picture of the new beautiful sweetheart!! Auntie Em loves you Addy! And Ari!!

Almost there!!

2006-05-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally moved into our new house this week. Greg's parents came to help while he was in Chicago at a ministry seminar. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. I'm anxious for Greg to see it! It looks so different from when he left. I'm picking him up at the airport at 7:15 tonight. The kids are going to be there to greet him, but then his parents will take the kids home and put them in bed. Greg and I will go out and eat for our 6th anniversary (June 3rd). Then I am going to surprise him by taking him to South Padre for the night. His parents are paying for it for our anniversary. How nice!! He's gonna be so surprised!!!

I had a dr. appt today for the baby! Greg's mom went with me. The dr. told me she was going to try to find the heart beat with the doppler and if she didn't hear it she would do an ultrasound. I told her I hoped she couldn't hear it so we could see the baby. She did find the heartbeat with the doppler, but gave me an ultrasound anyway since grandma was there. The baby was moving so much! I mean literally doing flips and rolling around. It was so amazing!!! The heart beat was between 160-170 which according to old wives tales means girl. I will be happy either way. Boy or girl! I just want a healthy baby! I am anxious to find out who this little one is though. Greg and I have talked about names, and we think we've decided, but he told me not to share them yet. Sorry! You'll just have to wait!

For my Mom

2006-05-14T06:51:00.000-07:00

Well it's Mother's Day and I'm 1000 miles away from my mom. I so wish I could be there to give her a big hug and thank her for all she does for me and my family. My mom is an amazing woman. She is my hero. When I grow up I want to be just like her. She is always supportive (even when it hurts to be). She's always there to listen when I'm having a bad day or when Nate dresses himself for the first time and I go on a mommy bragging spree. She loves me with an unconditional love that I'm understand more and more each day. As my children grow I understand just how hard it must have been to have 3 kids is 3 1/2 years! Somedays you just want to crawl under the blankets and pretend the kids aren't there. Then when you feel those little hands on your arm and those little lips on your cheek the whole world seems perfect! Mom, thank you for everything. I don't know how to put into words the gratitude and respect I have for you! I know you know though because you feel the same way about your mom. I love you and miss you and can't wait to see you very soon!! God Bless you today and everyday of the year!!!

2006-05-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a few weeks since I updated. I've been so tired that nothing is getting done. My house is a wreck and laundry is piled up and I don't have the energy to do anything!!! Morning sickness has starting kicking in too. I'm sick if I don't eat and I'm sick if I do!!! UGGG!!!

I found a wonderful OB doctor thanks to the boy's pediatrician who did a little research for me. She is in Harlingen which is about 20 minutes away, so when I go into labor I'll have to make sure I can make it to the hospital!! I went to my first appointment with her on Thursday. She did an ultrasound and I was so thrilled to see that little heart beating away!! I have never had a ultrasound that early with the boys so it was so neat to see such a tiny little baby!! I have a picture, but you can't really see anything. She did confirm my due date for December 18th, but said that with my history of early deliveries she expected the baby around the 1st of December. Maybe the baby will come on Greg's birthday (December 2nd). That would be neat since I found out I was pregnant on my birthday.

We are supposed to close on our house on May 8th. Things are crazy!! So many last things to take care of. Hopefully we can get it all done in time so we don't lose the house! The sellers are already threatening to put it back on the market. I'm going to be working on all of that today!

The boys are doing good! Eli is really getting an attitude. He has started hitting his brother when he is mad. Just now Nate took a drink of Eli's water and Eli yelled "NOOOOO" then hit Nate. I made Eli tell Nate he was sorry and then give him a kiss. Sometimes Nate just asks to be hit though. Nate can be the typical "big brother bully". Eli has been giving such wonderful greetings lately. When I come into the room he will either run to me saying "HIIIII" or "Momma". Then he comes and hugs my legs. It's so sweet!!
Nate is learning so much every day. At church on Sunday they were talking about obeying God's word in his class. He told his teacher that Bubba (Eli) needed to learn to obey God's word because he yelled at Nate in the store!! The teacher thought that was so cute. Nate is really sensitive to spiritual things it seems like. He gets real emotional when he sees Jesus dying on the cross (in Greg's videos for his concerts). He is a really sweet kid too! Always coming up and telling me he loves me. I love hearing those words!!!

Well, just wanted to give you a quick update! God Bless you all!

What a birthday!!!

2006-04-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

Well, first to update on the house situation. We didn't get the house we offered on in my last post, but we went to see another one and made an offer on it the same day and they ACCEPTED!!! Yeah we have a house! We are scheduled to close on it May 1st.

Today is my birthday and it has been a great day! Greg brought me flowers and a very sweet card. Beth (my friend here) brought me a present of sweets, coffee, candy and a coffee mug all in a cute basket with beautiful napkins. She is so sweet. I'm so glad to have found a friend like her. But the greatest present of all has to be one I got this afternoon. A POSITIVE PREGNANCY TEST!!!!!! Yes, baby #3 is on it's way!! Although this baby was surprise we are so excited!!!!! We couldn't be happier. Nate is excited too! Eli doesn't understand yet, but I think as I start to show and he gets a little older he will understand more. Fish baby #3 is due to arrive sometime in mid December. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm having another baby! It's still sinking in. God has given us so many blessings and we feel honored that he has entrusted to our care another precious little one.

2006-03-31T09:01:00.000-08:00

We made an offer on another house yesterday. The realtor is actually presenting our offer to the sellers right now. I love the house. Hopefully this is the one God has for us. It's 4 bedroom, 2 bath. It has a nice fenced back yard. It just seems pretty perfect for us. I'm a little nervous, but again I know that God has the perfect house for us. Greg has started a blog. His is a lot deeper than mine.
I had to seperate the boys this week. They were just playing in their room when it was bedtime. Finally I told them if they didn't settle down and go to sleep that I was going to split them up. The didn't settle down, so I put Eli's bed in the playroom. They have been sleeping so much better. They actually went down at 8:15 lastnight and slept until 8:30 this morning!!!! That never happens. It's awesome. I also took Eli's passy away last week. He was doing ok with out except when it was bedtime. I decided to give it back to him when he was going to sleep, but when he gets up he has to leave it in his bed. He's done a lot better with things like that. Well, Eli is crying wanting to be held, so I'm gonna go. Hopefully soon I will get some links to videos and pics like Greg has. We'll see!

2006-03-16T19:27:00.000-08:00

We have been back from Joplin for a week now. It's been a fast week. We had a great time!!! It was so good to see everyone! It was great to see all of the new babies in our group of friends. SO many boys! We need some more girls that's for sure!!

I had a revelation while I was there. I don't really know what triggered it, but I have realized tI need to rearrange my priorities. Before my trip I was so focused on how to keep my house clean all the time. I was getting stressed out everyday because I couldn't keep the house clean with the boys running around. I could clean something up and 10 minutes later it was a mess again. Because they were messing things up I was getting mad at them and yelling. I didn't want to yell at them, but I was so frustrated!! I decided that I wan't going to clean anything in the house until later in the afternoons. I was going to take the mornings and be with the kids, playing and watching TV. So far I think it is working out pretty well. The kids and I are getting along well and there is a lot less yelling. Greg did tell me I needed to remember to clean in the afternoon though. Laundry had gotten a little out of control, but I think I've got most of it caught up. I've realized the cleaning will wait, the kids won't. They grow up day by day, minute by minute whether we are there or not. I don't want to miss that because I'm too busy with the dishes!! I'm glad I've realized this while my kids are still little. I haven't lost a lot of time. Hopefully I can remember this while I raise them.

Today is the anniversary of my granny's death. She died 9 years ago today. I miss her a lot. I remember going to the cemetary and talking to her right after I got engaged. I told her all about how Greg proposed and about my wedding plans. I wished so bad that she could be at my wedding. I know she is watching over me though. I've always wished that she was around to meet my boys. Tonight I realized that she had met them. When I kissed my kids good night tonight, the smell of her perfume was on their cheeks. I smiled when I smelled it. I knew she had been there loving on them just like she were still alive. It comforts me to know that. I am going to start telling my kids about her and tell them the stories she used to tell me. She was a very special lady!

2006-02-26T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, I leave tomorrow for Joplin. I am excited and nervous! I always get nervous when flying after 9/11. I know it's crazy, but I can't help it. Today in Greg's sermon he read Phillipians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." That is comforting to know even though we are a little nervous that God can give us peace. Greg's sermon was really good today. The Scripture reminded me of a lot of things I need to do in my life. We've been going through Phillipians for a few weeks now and I am really liking this book. I had read it before, but not really "in depth". My Bible has highlights and pen marks all over the book of Phillipians. Moving to Brownsville has been really good for both Greg and I. We are both really growing in our spiritual walk (which is good since we are the ministers). I really the people here and they seem to really like us. Time has gone so fast too. I can't believe we have already been here 6 months! CRAZY! God is teaching us a lot of lessons here and He is always faithful!

I can't wait to see my family tomorrow. Ari called me yesterday. She is so sweet! Oh, I can't wait to pick her up and hug her and kiss her. Val is pregnant with another precious baby girl! I can't wait to see if she looks like Ari. I wish they would decide on a name. I don't want to keep calling her baby girl. It is supposed to be really nice in Joplin the next couple of days. Thank goodness, because I will be leaving behind 80 degree weather here in Brownsville. It is supposed to be 80 in Joplin on Wednesday!!!! Unheard of at the beginning of March! Anyway, I've got to get packing and clean up my house so it is nice for Greg while we are gone.

2006-02-24T10:51:00.000-08:00

Okay I've been away for awhile. I need an update post. Things have been busy. The boys and I are going to Joplin on Monday for 10 days. I've been trying to get everything ready for the trip. I was doing laundry yesterday and packing when my washing machine broke. UGGGG! I'm going to take the rest of the laundry to the church tomorrow to finish it. Today we went to Mexico to get medicine for Greg's dad. We also bought some gifts for friends in Tulsa and Arianna. I'm taking some jewelry to Joplin. My mom's hairdresser is going to display some of it and sell it for me. I'm excited about that. Hopefully that will get me some more business. We made an offer on a house. Still haven't heard back from the realtor though. I've been praying a lot that things would work out with this house. God knows best and if we aren't ment to have this house, he will have something better for us! Well, gotta keep packing!

What's up?

2006-02-12T14:05:00.000-08:00

We'll here is whats up. Or what' s been going on the last couple of days. Friday the boys were invited to a birthday party. Our first kids party since moving to Brownsville. It was for a little boy named Quientin. He turned 3. His party was a Thomas the Train theme. It was really cute. There is a lot to live up to when it comes to birthday parties here. I'm a little worried that I won't do a good enough job at Eli's in March. Quientin's mom made all of the kids Thomas pillows for their goodie gift. They were really cute!!! After the party we went and looked at a house again. We really like this hosue. We really think these is the one!! i think this week we are going to talk to our mortgage guy and then make an offer on it. I'm excited, but also a little scared. It helped to have mom and dad say they thought it looked like a good deal. It's still a big step though.

Saturday night Greg and I went to a Valentines dinner with the Spanish church. Greg reserved a room at Shoney's. I made fun of him because we went to Shoney's but it was actually pretty good. I apologized! It was pretty fun! I minister from mexico came and spoke.

Sunday we got up and went to church. They had a brunch for the Winter Texans, so our service didn't start until 10:30. After church they were giving away the leftover food so we took home sandwiches that we are for lunch and we will eat for dinner. I took a nap while the kids slept. Now the kids are watching Dora the Explorer and Greg is watching some movie while I am typing. It's just another restful Sunday!

It's been a agreat day!

2006-02-08T12:25:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess this is my first post. I'm kind of excited about doing this. I really want to put down special things for my kids. It's hard to write them down. It's much easier to sit at the computer and type. Today has been a great day so far. The kids and I got up and ate breakfast and then went to Target. We bought Greg a pair of slacks, toothbrushes for the kids and some toothpaste that was on the clearance shelf. Then we went to Sonic. The kids ate and played on the toys while I talked to Sheri. Then we came home and Eli went to sleep. Nate and I cleaned up the play room and my room and now we are watching "An American Tale" together. (while I'm typing) Tonight we are going to church as usual on a Wednesday night. I think the meal is Italian. YUMMMM! I have to remember to tape American Idol while we are gone. I think we are finally going to be able to buy a house. We're going to work a little more on teh specifics, but it's looking good!